Why the U.S. needs a plan to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in the Americas - Newsletter 5/7/2020
Full newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/f62719484b0c/why-the-us-needs-a-plan-to-combat-thecovid-19-pandemic-in-the-americas
Mexico's fragile health system running out of room for coronavirus patients
By: Patrick J. Mcdonnell, Cecilia Sanchez ~ LA Times ~ May 4, 2020
They waited for hours outside Las Américas hospital for word about their loved ones.
Then the small group ran out of patience and stormed inside. Upon discovering bodies on gurneys packed into the pathology ward, they accused the staff of murder.
“I unzipped the bag of my son to confirm that it was him,” María Dolores Castillo later told a television interviewer, describing how she touched his head. “My son was still warm!”
The coronavirus pandemic has battered sophisticated healthcare systems in Europe and the United States. Mexico is in another category.
The country’s fragile medical infrastructure appears to be in danger as hospitals become overloaded. The unrest at the hospital Friday in Ecatepec, a gritty suburb of Mexico City, attracted widespread attention and became a potent symbol of how the public is losing patience. Read Full Article Here
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Why the U.S. needs a plan to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in the Americas
By Trevor Sutton, Dan Restrepo, and Joel Martinez Center for American Progress – May 5, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic is challenging the capabilities and resources of governments around the world, and the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean are no exception. The region’s widespread poverty, weak health infrastructure, and fragile economies mean its residents could suffer greatly if political leaders do not act swiftly to mitigate the crisis. To date, countries’ responses have varied from strict lockdown measures to relaxed approaches lacking urgency to outright denial. Of particular concern, the two most populous Latin American countries—Brazil and Mexico—have been the slowest to mobilize to contain the spread of the virus. In Venezuela, meanwhile, the pandemic has begun magnifying an already horrific humanitarian situation.
Although the United States faces an escalating health crisis at home, it cannot afford to ignore the progressing spread of COVID-19 among its neighbors in the Americas. Many countries in the region are closely linked to the United States economically, politically, and with regard to movement of peoples. The uncontrolled spread of the novel coronavirus in the region is likely to hamper the United States’ efforts to contain the pathogen, impede domestic economic recovery, and intensify the political instability and human suffering that have contributed to high levels of forced migration in recent years. To avoid these outcomes, the United States will need to work with its regional partners to forge a coordinated approach to the pandemic... Read Full Article Here
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La angustiosa batalla que libran los "Dreamers" en Estados Unidos
Photo by Ana P. Garcia, Contributing Photographer, Long Beach Press-TelegramPor: Aitana Vargas ~ Publico ~ May 2, 2020
Unos 700.000 so?adores siguen pendientes de la decisión del Tribunal Supremo sobre el futuro de DACA, un programa federal que los protege frente a la deportación y los permite trabajar legalmente en el país.
"La decisión de ir a despedir a mi padre antes de que falleciera era mía, no del Gobierno. Y no estar allí fue algo muy difícil, porque a mi hermano y a mí nos quitaron esa oportunidad".
Es el relato de la mexicana Mayra Garibo a Público después de que, en enero de 2018, tuviera que seguir por FaceTime el funeral de su padre. Ella se encontraba en California. Su padre yacía en un ataúd a miles de kilómetros de distancia, en el estado mexicano de Sinaloa. Llevabanveinte a?os sin verse ni abrazarse.
Garibo, que ahora tiene 28 a?os y permanece indocumentada desde que llegara a EEUU a los seis a?os, había solicitado un permiso temporal al gobierno de Donald Trump para viajar a México y despedirse de su progenitor. Las autoridades migratorias (USCIS) rechazaron la petición porque, según éstas, el caso no respondía a "razones humanitarias"... Leer el Articulo aqui
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112 Senators and Congressmembers oppose the denial of CARES Act benefits to Dreamers
PRESS RELEASE: April 27, 2020
Senators Bennet and Menendez Lead Senate Democrats in Calling on Education Secretary DeVos to Reverse Course and Allow DACA Students to Access Emergency Financial Aid Secured in CARES Act
Washington, D.C. – Today, Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet and U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) led a group of 26 colleagues calling on U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to allow Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students to access emergency financial aid grant funding secured in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
“DACA recipients came to this country as children and make extraordinary contributions to our communities and our economy,” wrote the senators to Secretary DeVos. “During this Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, DACA recipients attending institutions of higher education across the country face challenges like other students, many with the added burden of supporting their parents and siblings or being the first in their families to attend college. These students should not be excluded from critical aid. Indeed, those who are especially vulnerable to economic hardship are exactly whom these funds were designed to help.”
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84 Reps. Denounce Secretary DeVos’s Exclusion of Immigrant Students in CARES Act Relief
Washington DC - Today, Congressman Lou Correa (D-CA), joined by Reps. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), and 85 of their colleagues sent a letter to Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos opposing the Administration’s decision to block Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Temporary Protected Status (TPS), Deferred Enforced Departure (DED), and undocumented students from eligibility for the $6.3 billion in emergency assistance for students included in the CARES Act.
This decision will negatively impact the more than 450,000 undocumented students enrolled in higher education who are experiencing the same disruptions and economic hardships as their peers. COVID-19 does not differentiate between students, and neither should the associated relief.
The letter said, “We strongly urge the Department to rescind its issued guidance and ensure that all affected students enrolled in higher education institutions—irrespective of immigration status—are eligible for emergency federal aid to offset expenses related to disruptions caused by COVID-19.”
Congress members went on to say, “COVID-19 has led to greater economic insecurity for DACA, TPS, and DED recipients and undocumented students. These students need emergency aid to cover basic needs such as food, housing, course materials, technology, health care, child care, and other expenses related to disruptions in their higher education.
Read Press Release here.
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DeVos criticized on emergency grants
Photo by: Yuri Gripas / Reuters
By: Kery Murakami ~ Inside Higher Ed ~ April 30, 2020
Education Department has been criticized for excluding DACA students from stimulus emergency grants. But financial aid administrators say even more students are left out.
About $4.7 billion, or three-fourths of the $6.3 billion in emergency student grant funds Congress authorized in the CARES Act, has been sent to more than 2,000 colleges and universities, according to the Education Department.
In addition, 3,482 institutions, or about two-thirds of the 5,136 eligible to get the grants to pass on to their students, have now applied, up from a half a week ago, the department told Inside Higher Ed.
But while that was seen as a positive even by critics, colleges and the group representing campus financial aid administrators say the department is interpreting the language in the congressional stimulus package so narrowly that many students are being excluded from getting... Read full article here
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Prof. Armando Vazquez-Ramos Denuncia a la Secretaría de Educación de Estados Unidos
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Urgent call upon Governor Newsom to help Mexico respond to COVID-19
By Prof. Armando Vazquez-Ramos, President and CEO
The California-Mexico Studies Center, Inc. ~ April 14, 2020
Given Governor Gavin Newsom’s commendable "Nation State" response to President Trump’s intransigence and failure to provide California with critical federal government assistance, the governor emerges as a novel international moral leader to abate the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
Last week, during an interview on MSNBC, the Governor stated that he would use California’s massive purchasing power “as a nation-state” to secure the medical supplies that Trump’s government has failed to provide. In fact, the governor expressed that “California might even export some of those supplies to other states in need”.
This is the fundamental reason why the California-Mexico Studies Center is calling upon Governor Newsom and California’s legislative leaders to immediately respond to Mexico’s emerging COVID-19 crisis, at our neighboring state of Baja California... Read Full Article Here
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CMSC's Letter to Governor Newsom
Read and download the letter here or click on the image below.
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OPINIONS AND COMMENTARY
Los Mexicanos en Estados Unidos NO son una prioridad para el gobierno de AMLO
Por: Profesor Armando Vazquez-Ramos ~ Abril 30, 2020
El artículo de opinión de Roberto Velasco álvarez, Washington Post en Espa?ol (April 20, 2020) contradice los hechos y niega el abandono de los 40 millones de Mexicanos que residen en Estados Unidos por el gobierno del presidente Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO).
Desde su comienzo, el gobierno de AMLO ha carecido de políticas y recursos correspondientes a lo que es mas del 25% de los Mexicanos que vivimos en EE.UU., como una nación mexicana en el exteriorque ha generado casi $40 billones de remesas anualmente a Mexico.
Aunque esto representa la divisa más alta para la economía de Mexico, el Plan Nacional de Desarrollo de AMLO no incluye políticas y recursos de apoyo para los connacionales que sostienen las economías de EE.UU. y Mexico con el sudor de su frente y el sacrificio de vivir en un país racista.
En su articulo porrista del gobierno de AMLO, Roberto Velasco álvarez comenta que “nuestros connacionales, muchos indocumentados, ya resienten los estragos del coronavirus”, pero Mexico no toma responsabilidad ni tiene un plan de colaboración sobre la pandemia con los gobiernos de EE.UU. y de California como debería de existir, y que nosotros venimos impulsando con el gobernador Gavin Newsom... Leer el articulo aqui
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Mexicans in the U.S. are a priority for the AMLO government
Roberto Velasco álvarez is General Director of Social Communication of the Ministry of Foreign Relations of Mexico.
The millions of Mexicans in the United States face a historical crisis in the face of the pandemic that continues to spread. Our workforce continues to till the fieldsand daily expose their health to feed that nation. Our compatriots, many undocumented, already resent the ravages of the coronavirus. The planet is going through a deep crisis, with severe consequences in the United States, and Mexico's public officials are demanding an unprecedented response.
Read Full Article Here | Artículo en Espa?ol Aquí
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May Day: Its most peculiar history in North America
By: Profe Gonzalo Santos ~ May 1, 2020
About a thousand folks marched & rallied in downtown Bakersfield on May Day in 2017 - the first (and so far, the only) time folks in this town proudly celebrated International Workers Day, that I know of. I'm proud to say I was involved in convening folks in early 2017 to organize this event, hoping it would become a yearly tradition.
Most local unions and community-advocacy organizations declined to participate; but a highly-motivated, varied group of activists responded favorably. And so, it was on! The event as it happened that glorious May Day was a great success - hundreds marched around downtown Bakersfield, held a wonderful festivity in Mill Creek park, and got great media coverage. A huge picture of the front of the march adorned the front page of the Bakersfield Californian the next day.
The points of unity agreed upon by the organizers - see below - reflected a welcome intersectionality in the group. In other towns, the demands were focused for immigrant rights, something that became a tradition after the historic immigrant marches of 2006, which culminated with the May Day National Boycott for Immigrant Rights, which in Bakersfield attracted the largest-ever, all-day rally at Beach Park - about 35,000 people! Read full article here
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BREAKING NEWS
Hijos de indocumentados demandan a Trump por negarles ayuda económica ante coronavirus
Photo by: Kent Porter / Press DemocratPor: Redacción ~ La Opinion ~ 5 de Mayo, 2020
Abogados representan a menores de entre siete meses y nueve a?os
Los hijos ciudadanos estadounidenses cuyos padres son inmigrantes indocumentados presentaron una demanda contra el Gobierno del presidente Donald Trump, debido a que sus familias no recibieron ayuda de $1,200 dólares por pandemia de coronavirus.
La demanda es sobre la Ley de Ayuda, Alivio y Seguridad Económica de Coronavirus (Ley CARES), la cual indica que las familias elegibles pueden recibir hasta $500 por cada ni?o menor de 17 a?os, además del pago para adultos.
Sin embargo, el Gobierno federal y el Congreso se?alaron que los indocumentados no tienen derecho a ese apoyo y tampoco sus parejas estadounidenses, si es que presentaron conjuntamente su reporte de impuestos. Leer el articulo aquí
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"Estamos con ustedes" dice el canciller de México Marcelo Ebrard a Mexicanos en EU
Foto: Voz de América / Reuters
Por: Redacción ~ La Opinion ~ 5 de Mayo, 2020
El funcionario mexicano mandó un cálido mensaje en la conmemoración del 5 de mayo. El Secretario de Relaciones Exteriores de México, Marcelo Ebrard Casaubón, mandó este martes un mensaje de aliento a sus compatriotas que viven en Estados Unidos, con motivo de la celebración del 5 de mayo.
“Hoy que es 5 de mayo, que celebramos, conmemoramos, aquí en México algo muy importante para la formación de nuestra patria y en Estados Unidos es algo sumamente relevante, que sabemos que nos da identidad y cohesión siempre, pero ahora más, que sepan que estamos con ustedes”.
Ebrard reiteró a los mexicanos que viven en la Unión Americana que son parte de la Nación Mexicana. Leer el articulo aquí
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CMSC initiative to provide mental health services to all immigrant communities
The CMSC's initiative to create awareness about the need for immigrants’ mental health services is more critical than ever !!! This initiative intends to inform and educate the public regarding the psychological crisis affecting the immigrant population throughout the U.S., due to a pervasive state of fear generated by the Trump administration since coming into office in 2017, the targeted acts of violence as the August 3, 2019 El Paso, Texas mass shooting at a Walt Mart store, and the hate-crimes aimed against immigrants, Mexicans and Latinos.
Please watch this short explainer video about our initiative, available in English and Spanish. Learn more here
Please support the CMSC's 2020 projects, initiatives, and campaigns, including our advocacy to provide and facilitate immigrants' mental health services, our National Campaign to Restore DACA's Advance Parole the Help Mexico Abate COVID-19, the Ethnic Studies for All, and the Chicano Studies in Mexico initiatives.
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Autor: Julio Cesar Guerrero, MSW, MAThe CMSC is in dire need of funding support !!!
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PLEASE DONATE
Please support the CMSC's 2020 projects, initiatives, and campaigns, including our advocacy to provide and facilitate immigrants' mental health services, our National Campaign to Restore DACA's Advance Parole the Help Mexico Abate COVID-19, the Ethnic Studies for All and the Chicano Studies in Mexico initiatives.
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––> Read full newsletter here: https://mailchi.mp/f62719484b0c/why-the-us-needs-a-plan-to-combat-thecovid-19-pandemic-in-the-americas